Academic Freedom

The hallmark of a truly free society is freedom of thought and expression. Nowhere should this be more evident than in its universities, colleges and schools. Academic freedom is fundamental to proper research and teaching, where all views should be debated dispassionately and those which are rationally sustainable are developed. Intelligent Design (ID) has, perhaps unexpectedly, uncovered a darker side of academia. Its science faculties will not countenance the exploration of ID and some academics who have expressed sympathy for it have in fact been denied positions or removed from post. It is hard to believe that the modern design argument can generate such intemperate and scandalous reactions, particularly in a country which has always set great store by the preservation of freedom. It seems that the thought that ID will bring the whole materialistic Darwinian edifice crumbling down is just too much for Western intellectuals to bear.

Featured Articles

Intelligent Design, Peer Review and the BBC

'Peer review' is the ultimate appeal for scientific accuracy, and in the case of Intelligent Design, it rejects it utterly. But is peer review the touchstone of scientific truth? There are good reasons to doubt it.

Beware State-sponsored Darwinian Indoctrination

The British public is stubbornly skeptical about evolution but the educational establishment is determined to have it taught in schools as a protected theory to which no criticism is allowed. But they can't ignore the evidence for design for ever.

Nagel Dumps Darwin

In a remarkable book – Mind and Cosmos - published by OUP in 2012, Thomas Nagel argues that the inability of Darwinism to offer any credible explanation for conscious mind renders it ‘almost certainly false’.